Topsail Island

The Baish's have been going to Topsail Island as long as I can remember and I love being able to share a bit of my childhood with my two children, passing along the tradition of a fun, relaxing, family-oriented beach week. This year it was just the Masseys and Milins, but next year it gets expanded to include many others. I already can't wait for that!

This year at Topsail, we saw dolphins on an almost-daily basis, took Anna into the ocean for the very first time (she loved it until a big wave came or she got too chilly or bored), and Nate became a bonified beach bum. I could picture him 10 years from now being a pro at surfing, he took the water so well. Although his favorite activity was either running along the beach with his big (in terms of age, not size) cousin Emma or playing with his animals in the sand. It seemed like the kids really blossomed when they were with their cousins. Anna often crawled into Emma's lap and played next to Harrison. This week, I felt that she really came into her own. She has started to shake her head "no no" and really begin to communicate non-verbally with us. She understands about 80% of what we tell her... Anna, show your belly. Anna, don't touch that. Anna, get your shoes. Anna, kiss your cousin Harrison are just a few of the things she understands. As for Nate, he loved being around Emma. I don't think that a kid has ever adored or looked up to a big cousin as much as he adores Emma. And he really dug having a little boy following him around. Emma and Harrison are really great kids and so cute to boot!

As for the adults, we had a great time as well. It was really nice just to spend a substantial amount of time with the children and with each other. As everyone can, I'm sure, imagine, we also went through a copious amount of alcohol. Only Meg got really drunk though one afternoon. (Ha ha!)

Enjoy the pictures! I tried not to duplicate the ones on Tom's blog, but I apologize if there are any similarities!


Bouncing the two littlest ones on my knees. They barely fit!

Harrison has got to be one of the cutest kids in the world. Meg, please notice that I strategically removed the spider bite from his forehead. Ah, the powers of computers. Now if only I can figure out a way to make me look 20 pounds lighter....

You try carrying a 60+ pound kid into the surf. Not as easy at it looks.

Mmm... sand, yummy. I heard it aids in the digestive process. Or maybe that's just for birds and small lizards.

Two hands are better than one!

Nate always seemed to have an animal in hand. Amazingly, all those that went to the beach with us also came home with us!

Three little kids on the bench. The littlest one said, move over! And Emma fell off of the bench. (The oldest always goes first....)

A gap-toothed grin.

I really liked this shot of Emma. Such grace! Such style!

Don't be fooled by appearances - Anna only appears to be her big brother. I guess that not only am I an overprotective mother, but also a cheap one!

The wind was blowing hard that day. Look, no hands!

I am just glad that I didn't get stuck at the little kids table!

Harrison's got his own room at the house. Lucky guy. Okay, it was really a closet. In his parent's room. Honestly, Marc and I would have traded a toe for that arrangement! Instead, Anna took up a big corner of our room.

Okay, that's it for me for tonight. There's a whole other "roll" still stuck on Marc's computer that I need to go through, so there may be a part 2 in the upcoming days. Stay tuned!